CNN Religion Writer Praises 'Religious Pioneer' Obama

The producer of CNN's Belief Blog lauded President Obama as
"exceptional" and a "religious pioneer" for supporting same-sex marriage
and hosting his inaugural prayer service at National Cathedral.

"Well, I think it's part of what makes Obama exceptional. We think of him as a racial pioneer, the first African-American president, but I think he's also a religious pioneer,"
John Blake said of the choice of National Cathedral, which made
headlines for announcing it will conduct same-sex marriage ceremonies.

"So to have a same-sex marriage, to talk about that in such a public
way at National Cathedral, to also support it as a president, that's
never been done before," Blake continued.

"I think the religious right has kind of had a monopoly on what defines a
Christian. What they sound like, what their positions are on things
like abortion and gay marriage" Blake added.

"And to have the original pastor Lou Giglio, when his – his so-called anti-gay remarks became public, to have him disinvited I think it's pretty extraordinary," Blake maintained.

A transcript of the segment, which aired on CNN Newsroom on January 22 at 10:29 a.m. EST, is as follows:

CAROL COSTELLO: And, John, I want to ask you about the significance of holding
the ceremony at the National Cathedral. I know it's the spiritual home
for the United States, but also also not so long ago, it came to light
that same-sex marriage ceremonies will take place inside the National
Cathedral.

JOHN BLAKE, writer/producer, CNN Belief Blog: Well, I think it's part
of what makes Obama exceptional. We think of him as a racial pioneer,
the first African-American president, but I think he's also a religious
pioneer. So to have a same-sex marriage, to talk about that in such a
public way at National Cathedral, to also support it as a president,
that's never been done before.

COSTELLO: And it also entered into who is going to lead the prayer
service, right? The Reverend Adam Hamilton, a Methodist, is going to
lead the service. He says he lands on the conservative side on the issue
of gay marriage. But unlike the first choice, who was dead-set against
gay marriage, he's going to lead the prayer service at the National
Cathedral.

BLAKE: Right. I think the religious right has kind of had a monopoly on
what defines a Christian. What they sound like, what their positions
are on things like abortion and gay marriage. And to have the original
pastor Lou Giglio, when his – his so-called anti-gay remarks became
public, to have him disinvited I think it's pretty extraordinary. And
it's just – this is just something really new.

COSTELLO: And Jeff, I think that some Americans might not think that
President Obama is all that religious because he doesn't go to a
physical church every Sunday.

JEFF MASON, Reuters, White House correspondent: That's true, he does
not. The Obama family did not join a church when they moved to
Washington, and I remember in the – in the White House Press Room the
first couple of years asking pretty regularly, have they – have they
chosen a church, are they going to go to a church? And they ended up not
doing so.

They go once in a while during the year. They occasionally go across
the street to St. John's Episcopal Church as they did yesterday. But
White House advisers say the President is religious, he attends services
at Camp David, at the chapel there. And the President himself has
talked frequently about his Christian faith and how it influences him
and how it influences his job.

COSTELLO: The President prays in an unusual way, too, Jeff. Because I understand he does it via Blackberry often.

MASON: I didn't know that. I think he does talk about prayer, and the
Blackberry is also an important part of his life, so the fact that those
two are connected is kind of funny, but he certainly prays a lot. He
talks about that. And he talks about the influence that that has had on
his individual journey, both before coming to the White House and since
he's been here.

COSTELLO: Yeah and I know that because I did a story on it. The
President has a group of pastors throughout the country that he
communicates with in times of his spiritual needs, and maybe you know
more about this, John.

BLAKE: Yeah, he has a kind of a spiritual cabinet. And there are some
people who say that this spiritual cabinet has really shaped the
evolution of his faith, that in fact that he's become a little bit more
conservative, a little bit more Evangelical because of the spiritual
cabinet.

(...)

COSTELLO: And Jeff, I did notice, you know, especially when the
President gave a speech after Newtown that the President is more apt to
talk about faith and quote from scripture than he was perhaps a few
years ago.

MASON: He does. And you certainly heard it at Newtown. And you hear it
in events like that where he's playing the role not just of President
but of griever-in-chief and of – and of somebody who is there to
sympathize and console others. You'll also hear him talk about the role
that the church has played in his life when he -- when he speaks to
others in the African-American community.

And the other thing you talked about earlier about this playing a role
today, you know, he's been to church three times over the last three
days, and so the religion and the spiritual aspect of inauguration, it
was clearly important to him for these -- for these celebrations this
weekend as well.

COSTELLO: And John, you know, a final question for you before we have
to head into a break. There were some people saying why does religion
have to be injected at all into our inaugural celebrations? For example,
why does the President have to take the oath of office on a bible?

BLAKE: I think that's how -- I think that's part of our country's
history. I heard a historian who once told me that we just don't elect a
President, we elect a high priest. And I think we couldn't have it any
other way.

COSTELLO: Why not? I mean aren't times changing? People are becoming much less religious in this country.

BLAKE: They are. In fact, the fastest growing religious group of people
are not affiliated with any religious group, but I still think when you
hear people talk about United States being a Christian nation, that's
still a very powerful impulse in our public life. And if a public
figure, particularly one like President Obama, whose Christianity has
been questioned if he strays away from that he might invite more
criticism that he would want.

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